A few minutes later, though, he reveals that during the October visit, he did ask Vatican officials to delay the release of a papal document on homosexuality in the priesthood.

"We asked them not to publish it, but to delay it -- to wait -- otherwise it would color the visitations," George says. The problem, in his view, was that the document would be released in the midst of official Vatican "visitations" to U.S. seminaries to check, among other things, for "homosexual culture" on campus.

"The document itself goes back almost 10 years. The visitations grew out of the discussions in April 2002 between the [American] cardinals and the [Vatican] curia," about the sexual abuse crisis in the United States. "We said, 'If you do this, it will be taken as a commentary on the visitations and we'll get into this whole business that the gay community is so sensitive to of, 'You're blaming us for the pedophilia.'"

So what is going on here? 80% of the Priest problem was with teen boys probablypast puberty. Boys and male Priests = homosexual, especially on the part of theolder man.

It can not be that on a level playing field, Cardinal George would find somepublic relations advantage to using the taboo term pedophilia vs. the culturallyfriendly “homosexual”. I would also give the Cardinal credit for knowing thedifference, especially since studies and advice have certainly been given to himas he tackles the scandal as a Church leader.

Why embrace thetaboo and ignore culture’s friend?

In light of his desire to delay the papal document on homosexuality, combined with his mischaracterization of the vast majority of the scandal, I think he is misdirecting us, or his conscience thinking.

If it is us he is attempting to misdirect, shame on him. If it is his thinking, then the solution is as close as his bookstand dictionary.